Latest footfall and shopping centre vacancy research figures reveal a mixed picture

According to the latest research by the British Retail Consortium, shoppers in the UK have been avoiding the high streets and shopping centres. Overall footfall (the number of people entering a shopping area in a given time) in April 2015 was down 0.8% compared to April 2014, with high streets reporting a marginal decline of 0.1% and shopping centres falling by 3.0%.

This contrasts with out of town shopping destinations, which could boast a 0.5% year on year increase.

Greater London fared the best, reporting an increase in footfall for the first time since March 2014, with a 1.1% year on year improvement.

Separately, the British Council of Shopping Centres’ Shopping Centre Vacancy Monitor has reported an overall drop in the number of vacant shops in UK shopping centres. The survey revealed that the South East benefitted the most from the uptake in empty stores, followed by the North West. However the Midlands and the East of England saw declines.

The percentage of leisure units in shopping centres across the whole of the UK increased by 0.2% compared to last year, reflecting the ongoing trend of shopping centre owners and managers transforming their venues into all-day leisure destinations for shoppers.

Finally, the survey also revealed that the number of chain stores trading in UK shopping centres increased by 1.3% in the last year, at the expense of one-off independent stores.

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